The LiMo Foundation today introduced seven new handsets from Motorola, NEC, and Panasonic Mobile Communications. The new phones utilize the organization's open, Linux-based LiMo Platform, bringing the total number of such devices to 21.

The new handsets include the Motorola MOTOZIN ZN5, the NEC| FOMA N906i, FOMA N906iμ, FOMA N906iL; the NEC FOMA N706i; and the Panasonic FOMA P906i and FOMA P706iμ.

"LiMo was founded on the notion that fragmentation of the mobile industry among dozens of proprietary, closed operating systems was inhibiting innovation," said LiMo chairperson, Kiyohito Nagata. "With such a variety of industry players cost-effectively adopting the LiMo Platform for non-differentiating handset middleware, more development resources are being devoted to enhancing the consumer experience. This new wave of LiMo handsets serves as proof."

Our own cell phone analyst, Sascha Segan has some decidedly less flattering words to say about the organization. Check those out, after the jump.

LiMo is a press-release-generation machine that also, incidentally, happens to be working on a Linux-based platform for cell phones. But their proudest product is pointless announcements of phones that are "using their platform," when no such coherent platform exists.

As LiMo reps explained to me months ago, their upcoming Linux-based platform will consist of several "building blocks" or APIs that will fit together into a full programming environment. Those blocks are being built by several different companies. They don't all exist yet. But LiMo's PR brilliance is in saying that any phone containing even one of their APIs is somehow a "LiMo device."

So these "LiMo phones" are a farce; they're phones produced by LiMo members that contain embryonic, scattered chunks of a future software platform.